Jared's Nightmare
by Tomcat X
Summary: Jared is a slacker with no direction in his life, until the night he encounters something that pushes him forward.


Jared's Nightmare by Tom Osburn

All things considered, Jared was a lazy man. Maybe that was under selling it, he was a lazy man, in a perfect storm of sloth, fueled by circumstances that were just right. For one thing, Jared's parents were wealthy, and they didn't hoard their riches, they shared that wealth with their son. Their only son. While most kids had summer jobs or summer school, Jared was going on a European vacation. In fact, the vacation never really ended for Jared, he went from high school to college without any real problems, financial or otherwise. It wasn't until college that the first problem came about, and that was the fact that he was more interested in partying then studying. His parents had covered the cost of his college follies, and they were disappointed in their son who never bothered to finish his four years. While his parents were unhappy with their son, that didn't mean the money ever stopped flowing, as all his living expenses were covered. This allowed Jared to live without growth, without struggle or trial, and it allowed him to collect mistakes, mistakes that he never really learned from. Most people are forced to maturity by a harsh set of circumstances, but not him. He never learned to rely on himself, and was thus dependent upon his parents. This cycle of dependency continued for years, until the year that Jared met with a situation best described as a nightmare come to life.

Jared regained consciousness, and looked groggily at the little clock radio he had sitting on his dresser. "2:37pm?" He thought to himself. "I guess it's time to get up." And so he did, he rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom for his morning piss. After that, he walked out into his living room, flipped on the television and jumped on the couch. While his parents allowed their son to live as a man child, there was a concerted effort on their part to reign in any and all expenses accrued by their son, and thus Jared, though provided for, was forced to live a more frugal existence now then when he had been growing up. "Thank God for cable TV." He turned the channel to Cartoon Network and picked up his cell phone. He turned the little phone's power to on and waited for a minute for it to boot up. He had three voice messages, the first was a telemarketer, the second was a wrong number, the third message was from his father. "Jared, we need to meet up. It's important, I'll see you at Tony's Gallery on the 15th at 7 o'clock sharp. Take care, son." Jared hung up the phone. Tony's Gallery was a local Italian restaurant and a family favorite. Why his dad needed to meet with him, and not just talk on the phone, was beyond Jared. He switched the mode on his television and powered on his Xbox, it was time to kill some Nazis.

Early in the morning, he went to bed. He tossed and turned, sleeping fitfully. Suddenly he heard a banging on his front door, he jumped out of bed and grabbed a baseball bat from behind his bedroom door. He walked cautiously out into the living room, the pounding continued. Suddenly Jared found himself out on his patio, standing about twenty feet away was his friend from college, Rob Tabert. He hadn't seen Rob in years, he found himself grinning, he reached out to wave to Rob. Rob was saying something but Jared couldn't hear it, he tried to tell him that but found himself talking in slow motion. Rob acted like he couldn't hear Jared, so he shook his head and started to walk away. Jared tried harder, shouting with all his might so Rob could hear him but to no avail. Suddenly Jared jolted out of bed and woke up. He wasn't sure what the dream had been all about but it had been a powerful experience. Jared went back to sleep a little while later.

The mood at Tony's seemed a little somber, Jared thought. Although he had remembered well in advance, that didn't prevent Jared from arriving at the scene somewhat late. He found his father waiting for him in a booth towards the back of the restaurant. Upon seeing his son finally arrive for their meeting Jared's dad stepped out of the booth and shook his son's hand. "Good to see you," he smiled warmly. "What's this about, dad?" Jared said. "We've got some important business to discuss, but first, let's order, shall we?" The waiter came and took their order. Jared forgot about his question, as the two reminisced over old times, and talked about current going ons. "Have you ever considered re-enrolling at Highpoint?" His father's question took Jared by surprise. "College, dad? We've been over this before, it just wasn't for me. I don't want to go back to school." "Well what do you want to do?" Jared sighed. This wasn't the first time his father had brought this up. Just like when it seemed his folks would accept his care free life of sloth and laziness this had to happen. "I just, am finding myself right now. Finding out what I want to do-" His dad interrupted "It's been years since college, it's about time you picked a career, or a wife, or something. You need structure, son, you can't just goof off for the rest of your life." Jared looked hurt, "And why not?" He said somewhat sarcastically. "Jared, look, me and your mom only want what's best for you, with that in mind we've decided that come the start of next month, we're cutting you off." Jared dropped his fork. "What!? Seriously? Come on, you can't do that, that's not right. I need, help, just look-" "You look, me and your mother have supported you for too long. Call this tough love, call it unfair, call it whatever you want, but we cannot allow you to live like this forever." The waiter approached their table. "Can I get you anything else?" Jared stared at his plate. "Just the check, please."

The next few days passed by as if Jared was in mourning. What was he going to do? He had depended upon his parents money his entire life, it seemed unfair to deny him that now. While he wasn't an alcoholic, Jared was never one to pass down a beer. He spent the next few days on a bender, one night he drunkenly dozed off on his couch. A loud pounding on the door jolted him upright, he started to walk towards the front door when he was suddenly transported out to his patio. There again, was Rob Tabert. Rob had a big smile on his face, and he called out to Jared. Unlike the first time, Jared could hear him this time. "Hey! Hey Jared! Come with me! I've got to show you something!" The next thing he knew, Jared was standing next to Rob. "Hi Rob, what's going on?" "Come on, you've got to see this!" The two began walking, Jared wasn't sure where they were, or where they were going. After a short period of time a large apartment building came into view. Rob led the way, opening the front door for Jared as the two entered the large building. The two silently walked up some stairs, the interior of the building was ugly and dirty, almost as if the building had been long abandoned. Up they went, another floor, then another. "What is it you wanted to show me?" Rob smiled at him. "All your sins, Jared." Rob then stopped at the top of the staircase and opened a door. Jared stepped inside. The room was dark but familiar, it looked like Jared's apartment, the same, yet somehow different. There was a chill in the air, he looked around, and started to explore this strange place. "Jared." A bizarre voice whispered. "Jared." He turned around, but Rob was gone, "Rob? Is that you?" He began to quicken his pace, going from room to room, "Rob!?" Then the sinister voice whispered again. "Jared." Suddenly he was in a different, larger room, it was like his living room, but much larger, more vast. Just like his living room, it had a couch, facing an entertainment center with a large TV. On the TV a first person perspective showed a pair of hands, holding a rifle. In the background Nazi troops fired at the pair of hands. "Jared." He looked towards the couch, on it sat a huge, gray maggot. It wasn't a maggot though, it looked more like a blob, like Jabba the Hut. Jared wasn't sure what it was. It was light gray in color and it had veins popping out of it. It moved off the couch towards him, he tried to run but couldn't. The gray, not maggot loomed over him, until it came crashing down, enveloping him. Jared screamed.

A year later, Jared's life could best be described as busy. When his parents had cut him off, he didn't have a lot of time to find a job. It had been scary for a while, living without a paycheck, and there was a time when things looked positively bleak. But then one of his interviewers called him back, and the next thing he knew, he was busting his ass full time. Working brought out the best in Jared, it gave him a chance to socialize with his coworkers, and more importantly it got him out of his shell. Before long Jared found himself exploring the city, going to concerts and shows, hell, he even started dating. More then that, he finally started to feel pride in who he was, and from that point on, it was nothing but better days.

THE END


End file.
